A GENERATION of Welsh people will miss out on top jobs in Europe because too few children are learning foreign languages, experts warned last night.

In the past seven years the proportion of pupils learning at least one foreign language has fallen by a quarter.

Ceri James, director of the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (Cilt Cymru), warned that our economy will suffer if students continue to turn their backs on Europe's best paid jobs by not learning another language.

The situation is particularly dire in Wales compared with England. There, twice as many children are studying one or more foreign language at GCSE level than in Wales.

Mr James said, "The free market in Europe is working in everyone else's favour. The advantages are loaded towards other countries where they learn other languages.

"Whether you want to be a waiter, lorry driver, or a top lawyer or working in Strasbourg, the top jobs are barred for people in this country. They might have the skills but they don't have the language.

"The technocrats of the future will be European because we are not able to compete.

"There's a lot of talk about businesses missing out on orders for example when faxes arrive and can't be understood. At the Eisteddfod one French family told me they went to the tourist information office in Cardiff wanting to book a B&B in North Wales but no one spoke French, so instantly Welsh businesses lose out."

Mr James added that with 500 foreign firms in Wales, 300 of which are European, languages could also mean fast track promotion.

"People think the only jobs available are in teaching and translation, but a very low percentage will go into these areas, most go into banking or manufacturing," he said.

The latest Assembly Government statistics reveal that the proportion of 15-year-olds entering at least one GCSE in a modern foreign language has dropped each year from 46% in 1996 to 34% in 2003 - meaning just a third of children in Wales are learning foreign languages, compared with almost three quarters in England.

Barely a quarter of those in Wales taking the exam gained an A* to C grade.

In the Assembly Government document Languages Count, Jane Davidson, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, said, "If we can increase our national ability in languages, we in Wales will be able to trade more extensively and build stronger relationships with people who speak other languages.

"English is now widely spoken and understood around the world. But we can not build international relationships successfully by relying simply on the language ability of others."

French-learner Jill Evans, a Plaid Cymru MEP, believes Wales is losing out because pupils are not setting their sights high enough.

She said last night, "I've spoken to a lot of young people in schools who hadn't thought about going to work in Europe. As a nation we don't really look at Europe as a career option. Even in politics we just think of the Assembly or Westminster, not Europe. But with so many other countries joining Europe the opportunities to make links and travel are much greater.

"Wales lags behind other countries in lots of ways and to make our mark and play a full part in Europe we need our young people to apply for jobs. It's central to show off the skills of our young people so that they can develop themselves, but also so that they can give Wales a higher profile in Europe. Ireland has done this very successfully."

Mr James added that even those youngsters who simply want to take time out and travel will encounter difficulties.

"It's fine if you're just going to Australia, but it's a lot more difficult in other countries and English isn't always understood," he said.

The reasons for snubbing foreign languages were complex, he explained.

"Children perceive languages to be difficult because it's one of the only subjects they don't learn at primary," said Mr James. "And boys somehow see languages as feminine and we need to give them more male role models using languages.

"People might think Welsh is enough as an extra language and it's really useful in the home jobs market, but to make it internationally and go abroad to work you need a foreign language."

He said some argue that parents of children in deprived areas may not see the need for foreign languages as they take fewer foreign holidays. Also, Europe may have negative connotations in rural areas because of its influence on farming issues.

In Estyn's guidance for schools and local authorities on standards and quality of modern foreign language provision in secondary schools it is noted that "schools may be reluctant to promote greater participation [in foreign languages], fearing that the department's results will worsen if they have to teach a wider range of ability" and "the amount of good language teaching decreases from Year 7 through to Year 9".

The inspectorate's annual report also found that fewer schools than last year offer a second modern foreign language at Key Stage 3.

Cilt Cymru has set up a pilot project to teach modern foreign languages to primary school pupils. It is also hoping celebrity linguists such as Ioan Gruffudd (Yiddish), Nicole Cooke (Italian), and Huw Edwards and Eddie Butler (both French) will help show youngsters the relevance of learning foreign languages.